14u son will be playing some wood bat tournaments starting in the spring and so I would like to get him a new wood bat for Christmas. He has a 32" Marucci blem that he practices a lot with, and even though he hits ok with it it is very heavy - almost 31 oz. - and I was hoping to find a similar or better quality bat that is more a true drop 3 32/29. I notice that Marucci has a "custom pro" option where you can specify the drop (up to drop 4, for an extra $10) - would that be a good option? I'm also interested in normal weights for other good bat companies like LS, Chandler, Mizuno? What closer-to-drop-3 wood bats would you recommend for a 14u?
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My 14 year old swings a Chandler maple, but has also used Marucci ash and maple in the past. I also picked him up a Louisville MLB Prime to try out. No feedback on that yet.
With the Marucci and B45 bats you can play with the weight a bit. The B45 more so.
Most wood bats are sold as -3's off the shelf.
How heavy is his Chandler? Seems like people rave about their bats - at $199 I hope so! I'd love to know how close to drop 3 they are.
How heavy is his Chandler? Seems like people rave about their bats - at $199 I hope so! I'd love to know how close to drop 3 they are.
People do rave about the Chandler bats! Thing with Chandler is that a 14 year old player gets the same high quality wood as the MLB player gets.
If your son likes a more balanced bat, the Mizuno MA271 ash bat is what my son uses. It is well made and very affordable, about $40-$45 a bat. He says it has a good feel to it. You can find them on Ebay even cheaper if you spent the time researching. He will break a few bats when he starts to play wood bat tournaments.
How heavy is his Chandler? Seems like people rave about their bats - at $199 I hope so! I'd love to know how close to drop 3 they are.
He swings a 33/30, but he is a very strong kid. He'll also swing a 33 +2 (35 oz) during winter workouts. In my opinion, the weight doesn't matter as much as a kid's mechanics. Your son should swing what he's comfortable with and he can increase it as he gets older and stronger.
He loves the Chandler bat and it has held up as well, or better then the Marucci. In my opinion again, the maples hold up better then the ash bats. When you do order a bat, just specify the length and weight you want. With most bat companies a -3 bat is not a special order.
With B45, like Marucci< which is also a good bat (yellow birch I believe), you can also order a -4 (32/28) without an issue.
I'm not sure if Chandler makes a -4 bat.
With Chandler, you should be able to find one for closer to $175...
http://www.hittersinc.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=68_142
People do rave about the Chandler bats! Thing with Chandler is that a 14 year old player gets the same high quality wood as the MLB player gets.
... and dad pays for it.
EDIT: but I will say this, his Chandler bat has lasted through many games this year. He's faced a few kids throwing in the 80-86mph range, but we are not talking about very high level HS, college or pro pitchers here.
He's used it in 50+ games this year and, I hate to say this as you know what will happen the next time he swings it, the bat hasn't broken.
I would recommend he look at a Baum bat. They are around $190 now but will last a couple of years for HS age kids. They are a composite wood bat and are almost unbreakable....my son has been using one (college) and it typically lasts him a full year and this includes BP every day, and summer wood bat league use. Nice balance good performance.
I will second the Baum bat. My 2015 son has used his for the past 2 summer/fall seasons along with bp year round. He has had no problems and he loves it as well or better than his bbcor. We just got tired of buying $60-80 bats that were lasting what seemed like weeks or months at best.
Baum is a good bat also. Just make sure that the tournaments and leagues that he will play in allow composite wood. My son was in a couple this year that did not allow it.
Have your son try as many as he can so that he gets an idea of what profile he likes (271, 243, 273, 110, etc). My son likes the 243 profile (normal knob, thin handle, extra large barrel) and prefers BWP maple bats over the others he has used (Maruci, MAX Bat, Mizuno). My son's game bat is a BWP Pro Maple Lite, BL-243, 33.5", full cup, black barrel, royal blue handle. The bat weights in at 29.5-30 oz so -3.5 to -4. The cage bats he uses are 1/2 cup pro maple BWP bats and weigh in at -2 which is very similar to what his DeMarini and Rip-IT BBCOR bats actually weigh. How long a bat lasts is directly related to where you hit the ball. Hit it on the end or the handle and it will break.
My son swears by Zinger. He was introduced to them a couple years ago by a couple of MLB players. Since they are local to us, he wanted to give them a try. In 2 years he has had only 1 bat break, which they replaced immediately. The staff over at Zinger has always been great to work with. If you call them or are out at an event they are at, you can always do better than the price listed on the website.
I was using a kid's Old Hickory to hit fungos a while back and I really liked the way it felt so I bought my kid a couple of their blems at $40 a pop. He he loves them, and their quality control standards must be awfully high, as the apparent flaws in the bats are insignificant.
My 15U son has used the Brett Bros MB110 Maple/Bamboo Bat since he was 13. It has not broken yet.
My son played a lot of baseball in wood bat leagues and tournaments. He preference was bamboo, any brand. Check one out and see how your son likes it. They seemed to last longer as well.
My son used the Brett Bros MM110 Maple and loved it. He still uses it for tee work and soft toss. It held up great throughout the Fall and a couple of tourny's.
Good thread, im in the market too. My son has been swinging an autographed Victorino bat I won at his tournament last year, Think its RX sports or something, really nice bat IMO. Been through hell and back and he is still slamming balls with it (hoping to win another on 11/23 lol)
My son played a lot of baseball in wood bat leagues and tournaments. He preference was bamboo, any brand. Check one out and see how your son likes it. They seemed to last longer as well.
My son had a Brett Bros bamboo for the cage, and a Bamboobat before that. Both looked, felt and sounded great. (the finish on the Bamboobat is like fine piece of furniture) Both lasted a long time. But I wouldn't recommend either for games. From what I've seen and felt I don't think they have the same pop as good, solid wood bat.
My involved with SSK Japan has provided knowledge. The 1st "bamboo" bat was designed by SSK to teach the HS hitters to concentrate on the "sweet" spot. If you hit the ball off the 2 " sweet spot the bat stringed.
Interesting.
Now Robert my son son sells the SSK to the MLB players including Robinson Cano.
We carry 4 dozen with our teams for our trip to Australia.
The SSK fungo is preferred by all pro scouts and ML coaches. Why?
Bob Williams
<www.goodwillseries.org>
The Rx Sports Victorino bat is made by Chandler.